Newbury on the up after strong season
NEWBURY Cricket Club approached the 2022 season with some trepidation – in fact, the club’s literal foundations were rocked to their core.
Plans to redevelop the clubhouse had stalled due to issues with its foundations and a miserable 2021 season had ended in relegation for the beleaguered first team.
Fortunately, the club – and the clubhouse – have bounced back, going from strength to strength as Newbury celebrated winning three league titles and one promotion, welcoming record numbers of members and completing their new home.
The clubhouse redevelopment project started over a decade ago, with the aim of securing a sustainable future for the club – a future that the old building posed an ever-increasing threat to.
Now the work has finally been completed, along with an overhaul of the club’s facilities, leaving ambitious Newbury in a strong position to plan for an exciting future.
The club has now secured sponsorship from Academy Insurance, Rivar and Henwick Properties, and has procured new sightscreens, a new boundary rope, a new electronic scoreboard and a new groundsman.
Off-field success has produced results on the pitch, too, with the first team crowned champions of Thames Valley Cricket League Division 5B, winning 12 of their 19 games and losing just four times.
Veteran Charlie Anstey produced a string of impressive performances, finishing as the club’s leading wicket-taker with 44 and the leading run-scorer with 508, including a memorable 116 not out – his first century for 10 years.
There was more good news for the midweek XI, who were winners of the Downs League Division 2 South, a remarkable turnaround given last year’s disappointing ninth-placed finish.
Newbury’s second team finished a respectable sixth in the Thames Valley Cricket League Division 7A, thanks in no small part to Simon Digweed’s 848 runs.
Opener Digweed smashed a record-breaking 208 runs from 143 balls, including 22 fours and 10 sixes, in a 43-run win over Wokingham 5th.
The third team meanwhile earned promotion from Division 10A, agonisingly missing out on winning the title by a single point
The under-15s won their Berkshire Youth Cricket League and the under-13s won the Finchampstead six-a-side tournament – the future, as well as the present, looks bright.